Milorad Pavic

(Apologies to fans of Milorad Pavic, b/c I already know that any description I offer of his books is going to do the man a great disservice.)

Thanks to a sojourn to the library last weekend, I found a great new author (new as in "new to me"). But there is a surreal story which goes along with the discovery of this book and just so happens to perfectly complement the style of the book. Meaning, ultimately, that the universe wanted me to know about Milorad Pavic.
So, the story goes...

Me and a friend were scanning pages for class. Actually she was scanning and as I had been in the library for 6 or so hours at that point, I was just talking to her. Next to us was a cart for books due to be reshelved. I was glancing through them, making completely random work-addled comments like "oh I should study Polish" or whatever b/c all of the books were dictionaries of various kinds or language instruction manuals.

But then, I see this red book with gold lettering entitled "Dictionary of the Khazars: male edition." Between the two of us, I feel me and this person know a lot about East Europe, Russia, and Central Asia - the name Khazars definitely felt like it belonged to that region. But we had never heard of them. I start to browse through the book. It has the oddest introduction. This tells the story of how in the 16th century there were two known copies of the Dictionary; one in gold and one with a silver lock. One of these was written in poisoned ink so that anyone who read it would instantly die. Furthermore, if one read the gold edition and the silver edition side by side they would be able to learn the moment of their death. I am at this point beyond intrigued, and yet completely confused.

Now for most people, the end to this story is obvious. Its not a dictionary at all, and you would have figured that out much sooner. We might have immediately come to such a conclusion also, except for the fact that it was to be shelved with other dictionaries - thus, lending a certain amount of credibility to the book's assertion that it was in fact a dictionary. And yes, you could dismiss such an incident with the very mundane comment "the librarian miscatalogued the book." Well, yes, that is one explanation. But considering Pavic's style (evoking comparisions to Borges), that his goal is to create non-linear books, which can be read in a multiplicity of ways, I feel that the circumstances of finding the book are completely appropriate. It wasn't miscatalogued at all.

Dictionary of the Khazars is a story told in three sections. It is the story of how a mythical group of Khazars come to choose between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In real life, they chose Judaism, but in the Dictionary their choice has been lost in time. One section of the book consists of Judaic sources regarding the Khazars, the other Christian references, and finally information from Islam on the group. There is a male edition and a female edition, which differ in only one, apparently crucial, paragraph. But this is not the most interesting of his books.

Landscape Painted With Tea happens to be a crossword puzzle. Yes, a crossword puzzle. I have only begun to read it, but my understanding of the book is that the first part is a story with various different endings and beginnings, while Book II can be read either "across" i.e. linear, or "down." There is a page that serves as a guide and tells you which sections to read depending on the path that you chose.

Last Love in Constantinople is a "Tarot Novel for Divination." So, it can on one hand be read in the normal way, or it can be read dealing out tarot cards as if for a reading. The sections in the book correspond to the cards, and whichever cards you are dealt you read those sections. Luckily for me, I already own a pack of Tarot cards.

He has a few other books, but my library didn't have those, so I have no idea what gems they conceal. I did read on his website that he wrote a book called Unique Item that consists of a different ending for every single copy produced - that is the book is in fact unique to each person who owns a copy.

Book The Third

I bet you didn't think I would get this far? That I had given up on the book challenge? Almost...but not quite. A few pages left in The Keeper, but I don't want to rush through it b/c I actually like that book. However, for now, for my 3rd book I read Dark Delicacies, which is a collection of short stories. I am not the biggest fan of short stories or anthologies in general, but there was a lot of hype about this one. And it had some cool names on the front - people I've read, like, or at least recognized. But what can I say about this book? Meh. Thats it. I really liked the first story - by of all people Ray Bradbury.* It was a sort of ghost story/zombie/reincarnation mixture that was a bit creepy, but over all entertaining. The Brian Lumley story is ok, yet seriously weird - and way more sci fi** than horror. Not outstanding though. My favorite story by far was by Nancy Holder "Out Twelve Steppin." It was about a couple of famous rock stars who are in fact cannibals, and who have a strangely co-dependent relationship. Overall though, I wasn't impressed with the book. I would probably give this book 2.5 stars

* I saw him give a talk once. FYI

** Which is odd b/c Bradbury is usually sci fi, and Lumley pure horror - guess they decided to switch up genres here.

insert expletive here

Finally we are at the point in the class that I teach where I feel comfortable and suitably knowledgeable - i.e. religion, symbolism, mythology, meaning. All such fun things. And we are reading about shamanism - should be fun. Except that it is only Tuesday and I am exhausted. Was being nice and scheduled extra office hours this week. That was a train wreck. I'm glad I helped people but sitting in the office 4 1/2 hours one day then 2 1/2 the next day talking to students non stop during those periods totally wore me out. That shouldn't be strenuous, but really I could go to sleep right now (it is 8:36pm at this exact moment). Except that I have to right a lesson plan for tomorrow, finish reading several books, and write an exam.

On a positive note, I went to a concert over the weekend (god, was that really 4 days ago?!). St. Vincent. Normally I would link to her website or post some sort of video in the "music of the moment" space to the right, but I don't feel like it. She was cool. And I mean that word quite specifically. My friend lent me her c.d. which I am now listening to. I think I like her a bit better in concert, but still good stuff.

Blade Runner

I watched this movie last night when I was supposed to be doing work for school - as usual. And yeah I managed to watch the movie (while reading The Reindeer People), and read Pandemonium. But no, I haven't finished reading for my "Imperial Russia" class. Which is what I should be doing RIGHT NOW. Priorities.

I just wanted to write quickly that I had never seen Blade Runner, but became a bit more interested in watching it after I learned all sorts of fun things about Phillip K. Dick (see previous post). Anyway, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix. I liked it. I hear people complain b/c it is very different from the original story (which I haven't read, but cannot be worse than the adaptation of Queen of the Damned), and that it was slow. Neither of those issues bothered me, but what drove me bloody crazy was the voice-over narration. That sucked. Apparently the director's cut leaves this out, but then people say you miss a lot of what is going on. This is probably true, I might have been really confused without the narration, but it sucked. This is one movie actually that I would love to see remade. Actually, I want whoever directed The 5th Element to redo Blade Runner. They might not be able to get Gaultier for the costumes again, but there are lots of new edgy designers who would be perfect.

Ok, going to read A Woman's Kingdom: Noblewomen and the Control of Property.

Book the Second

Finished Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory. No, please don't ask me how I had time. Basically, the story is focused around the main character of Del who experienced a possession by a demon known as the Hellian when he was about 5. This isn't possession as you are used to hearing about it - no Catholic priests involved. In fact, this is a sort of alternate Earth where demons (or archetypes or spirits or whatever) take over people's bodies usually for short periods of time to cause random trouble, paint pictures, or murder people. Most of these incidences are linked back to a specific cohort of demons all named all with certain immediately recognizable "signatures" or characteristics. But the story isn't really what you think it is. There are all sorts of little gems embedded in the main story - for instance, I learned more about Phillip K. Dick than I ever cared to know.

Cons: The story pulls from a lot of obscure literary references, and if you don't read Science Fiction some of the jokes might be lost on you. I had to look up a couple of authors. There were several scenes that were gratuitious - mainly the completely random sex scene between two of the characters. And I do mean "completely random." A couple of others come to mind, enough for me to be annoyed. Finally, I would have liked to know more about the underlying mythology - I am left wondering what was really going on with these demons/archetypes.

Pros: An interesting mix of gossip (possibly via Wikipedia), conspiracy theories, Jungian psychology, and possession. It was totally readable with a well-paced plot and memorable characters. Despite problems, clearly I was interested. Finished the book in 2 days - it is a fairly quick read.

I am undecided between a 3 1/2 and a 4. I have a longer "con" list, but it was a good story overall.

Not sure what I am reading next.